Death of Louis de Veauce

[SororLudovici]

Louis unfortunately died with health problems on 15th December 2022.

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

A previous thread about him:
viewtopic.php?t=5324

[Roger Lancaster]

Sad news. My only experience of Louis was playing him in the 1969 BCC, where neither of us did particularly well but drew our individual game, but it was already evident that he suffered from some form of disability. It may be that others can be more specific . RIP.

[Paul Habershon]

I remember Louis having his own clock at tournaments and challenging people to play blitz, subtracting a minute from the time of the winner (usually himself) after each game.

The previous thread about Louis refers to his Major Open victory at Clacton 1974. I am somewhat embarrassed to present my second round game against him. I had played Sir Roger de C in the first round.

[Event "BCF Major Open"] [Site "Clacton"] [Date "1974.08.06"] [Round "2"] [White "de Veauce, Louis"] [Black "Habershon, Paul"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "31"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O e6 7. e4 d6 8. d4 Be7 9. e5 Nd7 $2 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. d5 exd5 12. Re1+ Ne7 13. Nxd5 O-O 14. Bf4 Bxd5 15. Bxd6 Be6 16. Ng5 1-0

[Roger de Coverly]

I played him in the first round at Whitby in 1970. My memory of that game is that he took an inordinate amount of time in the opening and early middle game in a position where the themes had been reasonably well known since Bronstein twenty years earlier. From about move 20, he played at the speed of Rudd to reach the move 40 time control. It was quite unpleasant. You play a move, get an instant reply you hadn't totally seen and you cannot really leave the board with your clock running. That contrasts with earlier in the game when you are waiting ages for his next move and you end up thinking about the positions on the adjacent boards.

[Event "Whitby"] [Site ""] [Date "1970.??.??"] [Round "1"] [White "de Veauce,L"] [Black "de Coverly,RD"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E68"] 1.c4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 c6 9.b3 exd4 10.Nxd4 a5 11.Bb2 Nc5 12.Qc2 Ng4 13.Rad1 Qb6 14.Nce2 a4 15.Nc1 Re8 16.Rfe1 a3 17.Bc3 Ne6 18.Qd2 Bh6 {?} 19.f4 Bg7 20.h3 Nf6 21.Kh2 Nc5 22.Qc2 Bd7 23.e5 dxe5 24.fxe5 Nh5 25.Nf3 Bf5 {?} 26.Qf2 Nxg3 27.Qxg3 Ne4 28.Bd4 c5 29.Rxe4 Bxe4 30.Bc3 Rad8 31.Re1 Bc6 32.Ng5 Bxg2 33.Kxg2 Qc7 34.Nd3 f6 35.Ne4 fxe5 36.Nexc5 Qc6+ 37.Ne4 Rd7 38.Nb4 Qc7 39.Nd5 Qc6 40.Rf1 b5 41.Rf6 Qa8 42.Qf3 Rxd5 43.cxd5 Qxd5 44.Rf8+ 1-0

[Nick Ivell]

Strong player. I saw him play at Morecambe 1975. His game with Miles, if I recall correctly, lasted literally until the bare kings.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Impressive finishes to both those games.

[John Townsend]

The National Probate Calendar answers to De Cadier De Veauce, Louis Eugene: date of death 15 December 2022; administration granted 20 March 2024, so it seems no will was proved. It was handled by the Cardiff registry. The documents should include the address where he died and can be obtained at a cost of £1.50.

I can't find a death registration in England and Wales, at present.

[John Townsend]

Following my last post, I have been contacted by a gentleman in California who was at school with Louis in Switzerland, and who is also in touch with his sister. He would like to put together a celebratory tribute to Louis for a website dedicated to the alumni of the school. He would appreciate any snippets of biographical information about De Veauce and, above all, a photograph or other likeness of him. Can anyone contribute to this initiative, please?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Where might be the best place to find a photo of him, I wonder? Nice to see someone doing this. I presume he has the material from both these threads? (And we know he played at Bognor 1968!)

[John Townsend]

Thanks, Christopher. One of the chess magazines from the Sixties or Seventies may have included a photo of Louis De Veauce, possibly in competition over a chessboard or in a group shot.

Here is a group photo at his Swiss school in 1966. He is on the right.

My Californian correspondent recalls De Veauce being somewhat lanky and, after crossing his legs, he was able to cross them again.

LouisDeVeauce.jpeg (178.73 KiB) Viewed 2469 times

[Kevin Thurlow]

Typical of school photos... Hope the chap top right isn't falling over backwards...

Am I the only reader trying to cross my legs more than once?

[John Townsend]

Thanks, Kevin. What I should have said is that my California correspondent recalls the somewhat lanky De Veauce awaiting the start of school assembly/meditation each morning, quietly sitting in deep thought with double-crossed legs.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Yes - I was trying to emulate that (it isn't easy!)

[John Saunders]

The mention of the ability to double-cross his legs evokes a vague memory of seeing a player doing this at a late 1960s, early 1970s tournament and I think it was Louis de Veauce. Then it struck me that it might have been Howard Williams. But L de V remains the more likely candidate.

Regarding photos: I don't recall ever seeing a photo of him during my stints as BCM and CHESS editor, when I had access to their photo archives. I'm pretty sure no photo of him ever appeared in BCM and I don't remember a photo of him appearing in CHESS.